Among the many benefits of running is the pureness of the quiet time. Even with the husband and I running together, we both are in our own zones. Whether it be in prayer time or simply planning the weekly dinner menu, I believe we each allow our mind to take us wherever it needs to go at the time. And while I may be listening to the sound of my feet hitting the dirt beneath me or concentrating on my breathing, my brain seems to be running its own race, with thoughts running through it faster than my legs can keep up.
I recently did a search (source) for how any times the word RUN is mentioned in the Bible and I found that in the Old and New Testaments together (NIV), the word ‘run’ or ‘running’ is mentioned 105 times!
Let’s first take a look at what the word RUN means:
run
1. to depart quickly; take to flight; flee or escape; to run from danger
2. a hurrying to or from some point
3. to go around, rove or ramble without restraint
4. to move with haste; act quickly
5. to go quickly by moving the legs more rapidly than at a walk and in such a manner that for an instant in each step all or both feet are off the ground.
(source)
In Scripture, I found many of these definitions used in each context.
In Proverbs, we’re told to run to Him.
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a fortified (having great strength or power) tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
Now read that verse again, but use some of the definitions instead.
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower, the righteous go quickly/without restraint/hurry to it and are safe.
How many times do we really RUN to the Tower? Our Safe Place? Why is that usually the last place we go? Our last resort when nothing else works? God, the Lover of our Soul should be our first place…our safe place we hurry to without restraint.
In the New Testament Book of John, Mary Magdalene RAN to tell the others when she found the empty tomb of Jesus.
John 20:2
So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Can you imagine how she must have felt? You can bet she wasn’t walking to get back to the disciples to tell them what she had discovered. I bet she was moving the legs more rapidly than at a walk and in such a manner that for an instant in each step all or both feet are off the ground. 🙂
How quickly do you run to others to share news with them?
In 1 Corinthians we’re told to run from sin. Again, how quickly or without restraint do we remove ourselves from a situation where we don’t need to be?
And then one of my favorites is in Hebrews 12.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, (2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right had of the throne of God.
This reminds me that regardless of myself, God has a plan for me. He clearly states that our race is marked for us. This takes so much burden from my own shoulders and really gives me no need to worry because He is in control.
All I have to do is run to Him and away from sin (quickly and without hesitation), and keep my eyes focused on Jesus. He’s borne our sin, conquered it on our behalf and now sits on the throne in victory over it.
O Happy Day!
